I have not blogged for several weeks as I let my life eddy and flow. I shall endeavor to catch the readers of this blog up on what I have been experiencing and thinking .
First, the thyroid biopsy was much ado about nothing. The ENT specialist indicated it is benign (my words not his) and to be sure I will have a follow up with him in 3 months then maybe once a year.
The scar or rather the incision point for the heart monitor is healing up nicely. I must admit to thoughts of what is this hard lump? whenever I run my fingers over the area where the monitor resides. I have been riding my bike and attempting to get the heart rate above 140 to provide some excitement to the techs who "might" be monitoring my activity, if it is WiFi and if my activity is being transmitted ( I think the answer to both of the implied questions is 'no.')
As to riding the bike my body is out of shape after eight weeks of minimal activity. I rode 6 times before the insertion of the monitor then a wait of another 2 weeks before continuing to ride. On the 2 months anniversary since the 'accident' I got back on and afterwards it felt like I had not been riding for 2 months. It was hard and I was sore. To complicate matters for me I was not able to ride again for another week due to work schedule at Patriot Bicycles and weather issues. The 14th I rode out to the Aquatic Center to meet Bob T., Herb and Mike B. After about an hour of riding and heading for the El Dorado hills I realized I would not enjoy the ride as I was feeling fatigued, sore and my lungs hurt a bit. During the first part of October, Marcia came down with pleurisy and eventually it came to me. Thus the small spot of soreness in my lung. The message to self was 'go slow.' Since the 14th I have managed to get out 5 more times including a 48.5 mile ride the 21st. I was pleasantly tired afterwards and very stiff the next morning. I rode another 20 miles the 22nd then the rains came into Northern California. The sun is shining today and fall weather, for Northern California, is officially here, i.e. daytime highs in the mid 60's.
I made a very quick trip to Oregon to give my MacBook Pro to my youngest son, Jaxom. He has taken the big step to go to college and get a degree. He is interested in video and is enrolled in Portland Art Institute (I am sure I have the name wrong but Portland and Art are in the correct name). I drove up on Monday the 11th, spent the night with my friends, Mike and Angie. The next day I picked Jaxom up and we drove down to Independence to see his grandmother, Fran. My sister, Charlene, was doing morning duty with Frannie. Frannie looked great. She was beaming all the time we were there. Jaxom shared his story to catch her and Charlene up. Charlene was a bit anxious as her grapes were being picked that very morning and she was not sure if her husband Steve would need her assistance in managing the professional grape pickers. Steve called her while we there to inform her they had completed the job. We left and headed for Salem where we got some lunch at Jerry Frank's Kondeteri. Once we returned to Jaxom's abode I did my best to get to get him up to speed on the Mac although he did not have access to WiFi so there was a bit of a gap in what he needed to know. When I had finished showing him how to use the Mac I left and drove down to Rickreall to spend the evening with my friends Bill and Karen. During the evening Bill attempted to show me how he had set up his Mac Mini to do his TV stuff. I should have taken notes because when I got down here and began exploring how to use Hulu and Plex it didn't look the same as what Bill had set up.
Jaxom essentially is computer illiterate. He called a couple days later upset because the printer wouldn't work and did not understand he needed web access to download the printer driver. His first assignment was due that afternoon and he could not print it out. He indicated he had been up until 3 AM finishing the essay and I would imagine watching the movie he had to write about. I since have instituted a series of emails to him suggesting things he could do to make his college experience go better. I have not heard back from him so I do not know if he appreciates my suggestions or would rather not read them. Perhaps he has not been able to set up his email account so he can receive emails on the Mac? The good news is he is taking a class about how to use the web. I imagine when all is said and done he will be telling me how to do stuff with my computer and the web.
My next post will be to bring to a conclusion my Tour of NW CA which is long overdue.
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